A study by Gartner found that major companies routinely make important CRM and other decisions based on bad data, since more than 25% of critical data within Fortune 1,000 businesses is inaccurate or incomplete.

This inaccuracy leads to less-than-optimal results when implementing CRM programs that rely on good data to be effective. Many times, CRM programs fail, in large part, because the poor quality of underlying data is not recognized or addressed, the report said.

"Most enterprises don't fathom the magnitude of the impact that data quality problems can have," said Ted Friedman, principal analyst for Gartner. "These problems cause wasted labor and lost productivity that directly affect profitability."

According to the study, titled “Using Business Intelligence to Gain a Competitive Edge: Unleashing the Power of Data Analysis to Boost Corporate Performance," much of the inaccuracy stems from organizations relying too heavily on IT to provide quality data.

"If the IT group is the only organization that actively works and focuses on the issue, the business's ability to achieve data quality goals will be severely limited," Friedman said. "The greatest success in managing data quality comes from engaging both business users and the IT organization."

The 266-page report costs $1,295 and can be downloaded here.